The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of safety systems and more specifically relates to a safety system designed to cause a car with an automatic transmission to stall when it is gear, either D or R, and the driver takes his or her foot off the brake pedal and exits the car. Sensors in the driver's seat and the brake pedal work together and are connected the vehicle's computer to cause the engine to stall so it will not move forward or backward after the driver has left.
2. Description of the Related Art
We have all seen funny videos on YouTube where someone gets out of a car while the engine is running, and the car is in gear (either drive or reverse) ending with catastrophic consequences. The car will continue moving forward or backward after the driver has exited when it is had been left in gear. A car with a standard transmission requires the driver to keep one foot on the clutch and one foot on the brake when it is not moving or it will stall out. There is no such safety system in vehicles with automatic transmissions, and many people have suffered grievous injuries or died as a result. A suitable solution is desirable.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,301 to James Grubaugh, U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,909 to Steven D. Bevins et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,161 to Joy A. Williams. This art is representative of vehicle safety systems. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a vehicle safety system should provide a system useful for automatically stalling a motor vehicle when the motor vehicle has been exited by a user and yet remains in drive gear or reverse gear and, yet would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable autostop safety system to avoid the above-mentioned problems.